Hi Everyone.
So we've finally reached the end of the 2014 comics I'm covering, unless I go back to stuff that I bought and never reviewed in the past. Let me know if you'd want to see that. :)
Anyway, the lowest selling comic of December 2014 (that wasn't basically a second print) (according to Comichron.com) selling 2,462 copies was Charmed Season 10 #3 - The Perks of Being A Whitelighter from Zenescope Entertainment.
As usual, I'm not familiar with the series, and didn't do any research into it before reading this issue, just to see if it's new reader friendly. There may be small spoilers, but I'llblockthem just in case. Let's start with the cover.
Cover:
First off, the cover I have is ever so slightly different from pictured here, as the one on this site is the digital edition. It's the same picture though, so it's fine.
The cover is quite subtle and stylish with it's minimal title and credits, really showcasing the artwork. I'd say this was a good decision, as the art itself, by David Seidman, is rather nice. I've never seen the Charmed T.V. show, but the person on the cover looks kind of familiar, so maybe I've seen them somewhere else, and they've been drawn well here?
I like the spooky cats, and they seem to reflect what I expect from the comic. I'm under the impression that Charmed is about witches, right? Either way, the cover overall looks good. It has quite a realistic look to it.
Art:
The art inside, by Elisa Feliz is quite different to the cover, with closer to a more normal comic book style to it. It generally follows usual human proportions and looks, with quite expressive facial expressions. Having not seen charmed, I can't tell if anyone looks like they're meant to. I'm pretty sure the red haired woman, Paige, is the one on the cover, and I can kind of see the resemblance, so maybe it's consistent to existing fans.
For the most part, the art looks pretty decent, but curiously, some of it looks like it wasn't inked, with colours being applied straight over pencils. A lot of it looks fine, but it looks a little sketchy or unfinished here and there. There are cats in the issue, like on the cover, that are drawn rather nicely.
The colours, by Valentina Cuomo, are bold and bright or muted and subtle where they need to be, with appropriate shading and highlights. There are a few awkward uses of patterns throughout though, on wallpaper, rugs etc. However, there's better use of tartan/plaid in this issue than I've seen in many other comics, as it actually curves to reflect the shape of material a little better. Not perfect, but better than things like Gotham Academy covers. Not much to say about the lettering, by Christy Sawyer. It's mostly normal speech bubbles, and a few simple sound effects, but they look fine.
Story/Writing:
The inside cover gives us a recap/basic description of the series, and how Piper, Paige and Phoebe Halliwell are "The Charmed Ones", with access to "the greatest source of pure magic the world has ever known, The Power Of Three." We're told of their recent adventures being hunted by demons called "The Old Ones".
We open with Cole Turner and Leo Wyatt in a waiting room, in a waiting room of Knox Academy, a "neutral alternative to magic school", whilst the Halliwell sisters reflect on the adventures mentioned in the recap page. Paige teleports to the house of someone called Aidel, only to find the house full of black cats. Cole and Leo meet with the schools headmaster to try and convince him to take a side in the Halliwells conflict with the Underworld, which he rejects, before saying he'll call on them later "for a favor". A crying blonde girl gets a message through her tattoo, that "One will die, one will rise".
Paige discovers that the cats are in fact Aidel, who accidentally turned himself into them when trying to reveal his true self with a spell, and Paige takes them to her sisters to combine their magic to bring Aidel back. Cole and Leo arrive at the sisters house to explain that Cole is being hunted, as his blood is needed to activate an ancient weapon. Elsewhere, a ghost called Faith has died in a car crash, and a guy who might be "Death" sends her off to the afterlife, when suddenly and possibly killed by... someone. I don't know who it is.
Written by Patrick Shand, I'm left kind of lost. The pacing seems O.K., but perhaps would work better being read with other issues, and not as a standalone. The dialogue seems fine, but I feel like there's a lot of it that I didn't understand, probably as a non-fan of Charmed.
Other Things Worth Mentioning:
22 Pages of comic content for $3.99. Pretty normal.
All the advertising is left to the end, so no interruptions.
Overall:
Overall, I'm not really into it. I get the feeling that this would have to be read as a Charmed fan, or at least as someone who has read previous issues of the comic. This issue probably isn't a good place to start reading. I don't think there's really anything bad about it, but it just doesn't work for me. I'll give it a low3/5(7/15).
So has anyone on here read this issue? What did you think of it? This review is just my own opinion, so it could be good to hear some others.
For all my previous reviews, see here.
Look out for my double bill of Cullen Bunn lowest sellers, and what looks like a potentially rather raunchy comic(if I can track down a reasonably priced copy), hopefully coming soon. :)
Scarlotte.
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